


Chakram Treatment

by frogfarm



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Dom/sub, Dubious Consent, F/F, Light Angst, Light Bondage, Role Reversal, Romantic Comedy, Spanking, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 18:38:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17249330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogfarm/pseuds/frogfarm
Summary: Coming back from heaven and hell is hard enough. And that's before your best friend has become a complete stranger.Missing scenes from 5x02, "Chakram". Jump-started with canon dialogue, and goes from there.Xena and Gabrielle POV's.





	Chakram Treatment

**Author's Note:**

> Written 1999 / 2018. A new record: Just over nineteen years. Happy New Year.  
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>> _She's not into sadomasochism. She just went to a Catholic school._  
>  \- Stan Rice, on his wife Anne
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Xena stared after Joxer in bemusement as he clanked out of the room, trailing clouds of confusion. While she certainly felt only sympathy for his plight, she wasn't quite sure why he was coming to her for helpful advice. Though of course it was flattering that he held her opinion in such high regard. Her memories of the awkward young man were even fuzzier than those regarding Gabrielle, but it was clear that he had a good heart. She only hoped that the bard would treat him kindly if he summoned up the courage to confess his feelings.

Something tugged at her memory, and the ghost of a smile graced her lips. "Of course, you could just kiss the girl..."

"Interesting offer."

Xena spun about, her startled eyes drawn to the billowing curtain across the room. It fluttered aside to reveal a muscular, leather-clad figure that was most decidedly not Joxer.

"I know you." She frowned, trying to penetrate the haze that surrounded her recollections. "You're the one who freed me from Kal."

"Yes, I am." The handsome stranger held up one massive hand, voice dropping to a soothing, sensual whisper. "Just relax. That's good. Just let go..."

He was already behind her, calloused hands digging insistently into the meat of her shoulders. She hadn't realized until now how tense her muscles were, despite the hot bath.

"It's amazing, isn't it? The difference when you don't resist me."

"Amazing..." Her eyes fluttered shut of their own volition, his breath an icy burn across her skin. Whoever he was, she knew him as well as Gabrielle; or at least her body did.

"Open." He continued his patient massage, the subtle heat from his fingers reaching deep within. "Free from old wounds, old grudges..."

"Very free..." she sighed.

"And all those old ideas of right and wrong, good and bad...they just don't get in the way."

Something like a warning trickled through her belly. "Bad?"

"Oops." He didn't sound at all surprised. The complex smell of him filled her senses, threatening to overwhelm her. "I forgot. Bad doesn't ring a bell in you, does it? Neither does wrong...or evil."

His nostrils flared as she stood and turned to face him, water running down her sleek form. He looked as though he were forcing himself to meet her gaze.

"You know what's strange? I know those words, I know their meaning, but somehow they have no connection..." One hand rose to her chest, fingers resting in her bosom. "Here." 

"That's gotta be tough." Ares swallowed as his eyes were dragged down and unwillingly back. "But trust me...it's for a reason."

"That's what Eli says, but he doesn't know what it is." She gazed into his smoldering eyes, searching for a sign that he could be trusted even as some silent part of her screamed out to surrender to him. "Do you?"

"Oh, yeah."

She unconsciously drew closer as his full lips parted slightly, moistened with an eager tongue.

"It's all about you and me, Xena. Not Kal, not even Zeus. Just the two of us, bringing peace and order to the world through force. It's something you and I were destined to do...together."

The sound of the door opening was followed by a familiar voice. 

"Xena? Eli --" Gabrielle came to a halt as the war god straightened with a guilty look.

"Ares," the bard hissed. "You!"

Xena turned, her dripping form illuminated by candlelight as her brow knit in confusion. "You know each other?"

"Only you would take advantage of Xena when she's like this." The glare on Gabrielle's face caused Ares to retreat even before she took a step forward. Her mouth twisted, as if tasting something foul.

"'Like this?'" Ares seemed secretly elated despite his obvious frustration. He wore the hurt pout of a kicked puppy, returning the bard's fury with sorrow. "What do you mean? If she can't remember things that make her angry...that fill her with hate?"

Gabrielle drew a harsh breath, and Xena's heart sank at the bard's look of rage and betrayal. Ares shook his head in wonder.

"When did you become so hard?"

A pillar of fire consumed him, and then that too was gone.

"Gabrielle?" Xena's distress seemed to penetrate her friend's awareness as she stepped forward, reaching out. "What did he mean? Was it --"

She swallowed and her hand fell away as she found herself barely able to meet the bard's detached look of assessment. Gabrielle's eyes had hardened to emerald flints she could swear were literally throwing off sparks, an inferno of emotion that pinned Xena to the spot, paralyzed before the flood. _Was it me? Am I the one who made you what you are?_ But those haunted eyes, that silent stare made all her resolve crumble away, leaving her defenseless. 

_What did I do to her?_

"Xena." The bard's voice was pitched low, dangerously calm. "I know you're having a hard time remembering, but you cannot forget this. That man, that --" She seemed to swallow a gutter oath.

"That pitiful, petty excuse for a god, is the god of war. He has tried to use you -- to _control_ you, nearly all of your life." Gabrielle's voice was barely under control, and Xena fervently hoped the others would stay out of the room. "He doesn't care at all about you, and he is _not_ to be trusted! Do you understand me?" 

Xena's mouth fell open, her eyes wide with fear.

"Gabrielle, please --"

She bit down on a trembling lip as the bard's numb fingers fell away from her forearms, rapidly darkening bruises already gracing that pale flesh. Every conscious part of her was screaming to run. And yet this flew in the face of her deepest instincts. This was her dearest friend, for whom she had conquered death itself.

She managed to speak. "You're scaring me."

"Good." Gabrielle's clipped response belied her slow advance. She pressed on, up against Xena's quivering body, forcing her to the wall behind them. The mask of her face was a match for the chill of her tone. "Maybe it'll help you remember how serious this is. Because you told me --"

Xena watched in silent horror as Gabrielle stumbled to a halt, seemingly overcome by emotion. The bard fought for control, biting off each of her words in bloody pieces.

"You told me that our love transcended good and evil. That our souls were destined to be together, always. And if you think I'm going to let either one of us get killed, after all we have been through -- then you'd better think again, princess!"

  


* * *

  


Gabrielle ground to a halt before the boiling in her blood took command of her senses. She hated the small, selfish part of her that still yearned for her own pain to be likewise purged, or at the very least stripped of meaning. The death of her betrothed at the hands of Callisto had only been the beginning, until the loss of her daughter had been enough to make her welcome the notion of death. Only Xena had brought her back from the precipice.

_After we nearly killed each other._

She didn't know if it was a darkness within her even now; this all-consuming and too familiar need, given fresh potency by intense emotion and close proximity. She had hurt Xena without even realizing it, and found herself as shocked at her instinctive reaction as frightened by its cavalier, even cruel nature.

"I'm sorry."

Xena's shoulders sagged in obvious relief at her quiet statement, and Gabrielle motioned to the bench by the tub. "Please -- sit down."

The warrior -- for this was still how Gabrielle found herself thinking of her best friend -- acquiesced with slow and careful movements, while keeping both eyes trained upon her. She still didn't appear the slightest bit suspicious, and even this was a far cry from Xena's usual demeanor, displaying an alarming and uncharacteristic level of trust. But Gabrielle was having a harder time adjusting to the utter lack of regard her friend was showing for her current lack of clothing. It was almost childlike in its innocence, completely unlike either the surprisingly modest streak she demonstrated on occasion or the aloof, casual attitude she generally maintained regarding her body. Gabrielle had often envied the latter in their early days of travel together, wishing she had the confidence to pull it off. Or the height.

She fixed Xena with a stern look, which was enough to keep the other woman in her seat. Running her gaze over that gloriously muscled body was a painful distraction, try as she might to maintain the detached perspective of a healer's eye. But each curve and swell was just as it should be; every scar both new and old in its proper place. She'd only ever managed to learn the origins of half of them.

She knelt and took Xena's foot in her hand, and the warrior raised it in wordless compliance. The pure black of the mendhi had faded over the past few moons to a barely visible grey, but the inked design of chakram and cross were still readily apparent.

Xena reached out and then hesitated, her fingers brushing the bard's forehead. Gabrielle's eyes fluttered shut, and a faint sigh drifted from her lips as she felt that gentle, powerful hand caressing tension from her brow. She tightened her grip on the other woman's ankle, striving to keep from falling. 

Xena sounded as though her voice was reaching across a vast gulf. "Are you all right?" 

"Just..." Dizzy, feverish; trembling and lightheaded; no, she was far from all right. She heard her own words, as if from the same great distance. "Making sure it's really you."

"You don't look so good..."

Gabrielle felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach. Xena was looking down at her, confusion and concern writ large, and the bard returned her gaze with perfect calm.

The muscles in Xena's throat worked up and down, but not a sound emerged. Her eyes grew wider as she took in the raw hunger in Gabrielle's eyes, every muscle in her body frozen at the certain recognition of a predator.

Swallowing, she stood on shaky legs, licking too-dry lips. Gabrielle followed her every move as she crouched on one knee below the taller woman, eyes fixed on the sway of her breasts, the shadowy cleft between her legs. Their eyes met once more, for a fraction of a second.

Xena turned to run.

She completed less than half a stride before a hand wrapped around her ankle, bringing her to the floor with a jarring impact. Gabrielle was leaping on top of her, entwining the larger woman's body in a full restraint hold, or as much of one as their difference in size allowed.

Xena thrashed wildly about, her frantic motion hurling the bard away more through exertion than skill. Rolling onto one knee, she dropped into a crouch with one arm held out before her.

"What are you doing?" Xena whispered. She stared about the room, down at herself, back at Gabrielle with increasing wonder and fear. "What am I doing?"

"You're standing up to a murderous warlord." Gabrielle hardly knew her own voice for the passion that filled it, overflowing until she could barely force out the words. Something flashed in Xena's eyes, but she continued to back away as the bard crawled toward her like a starved lioness. 

"What's the matter, little girl?" The purring edge to Gabrielle's voice did little to diminish the resemblance. "Afraid to defend yourself?"

"Gabrielle..." Xena was pleading, with all her heart and soul. "Don't --"

"What?" The bard paused, her playful smile conveying a feral element. "I'm bringing you to your senses."

"No!" Xena shook her head. Confusion and terror warred in her eyes.

In that moment, Gabrielle struck. She had the leverage, she had the momentum, she had the inertia; and most importantly, she had the will. They rolled on the floor in a frenzy until Gabrielle rose up triumphant, pinning her in place.

She leaned down, her nose almost touching Xena's. "Do you know who I am?"

"Gab--" The warrior's voice choked off in a gasp. Her body was trembling, her eyes wide as a rabbit's caught in a snare. Gabrielle's hands were on her shoulders, her right thigh pressing up between Xena's own. 

"Do you know who I am?"

Xena swallowed, her eyes never leaving Gabrielle's. "You're my best friend."

"A warrior has no friends." Gabrielle's gaze lowered to take in Xena's parted lips, her heaving, unclad bosom. "Only allies...and enemies."

"Is that what you are?" Xena's voice was small, full of wonder. "A warrior?"

"Right now? As far as you're concerned?" Gabrielle leaned in, pressing her lips to Xena's throat, reveling in the pounding of her veins. "I'm the one on top."

"You certainly are." A mild stutter accompanied Xena's words as Gabrielle's tongue found a sensitive pulse point. "Is this what -- friends -- do?"

"Friends do whatever it takes." Gabrielle gave in and bit down, forcing back the growl that rose from deep inside. "No matter how much it hurts."

Xena froze again beneath her. "Will this hurt?"

"Life is pain, princess." Gabrielle nibbled her way along the warrior's jawline, fingers sliding over her belly. "And someties, the only way to live with it..."

Xena trembled as Gabrielle's palm pressed against open flesh, fingertips teasing at her quivering entrance.

"Is to give a little back."

A heartfelt groan wrenched its way free from Xena. "I don't want to fight you..."

"Fight me!" Gabrielle could feel the rising anger surging through her. Blinded, near sobbing from the taste of her own rage, she fought against the overwhelming urge to do violence. "Free yourself! Stop me from --"

_From what?_

"Why..." The look on Xena's face was one of sheer wonderment. Her fingers rose to hesitantly cradle the bard's cheek, running over the skin as though afraid it might shatter under her touch. "Why would I want to do that?"

Gabrielle's rising moan was cut off as their lips met. She had no idea which of them had moved first. But they were kissing, and really, that was the only thing that mattered.

"Damn you, Xena." She realized she was crying, still kissing her best friend through it all. "Even after everything we've been through...I can't hurt you." 

Her fingers found Xena's, intertwining in a fierce grip whose strength was instantly reciprocated.

"Not even to save you."

  


* * *

  


Xena still couldn't believe it was happening. Everything it seemed she might ever have wanted was here and now, holding her, kissing her. More than making love, this _was_ love, the woman in her arms its embodiment. Her body felt as though it were responding on its own, one foot rising to run its way over the trail of muscle, pushing Gabrielle's leather skirt further up around her thighs. The bard groaned, her left hand curling into a fist in Xena's hair.

To her own amazement, Xena let out a gasp, arching her back and undulating beneath her captor. The resulting contact only sent further shocks and shivers throughout her trembling body. Between her legs, deep up in her belly was a sudden aching need, a tight ball of yearning demanding immediate fulfillment. A faint warning bell could also be heard, in the farthest recesses of her mind. But its caution went unheeded.

"Is this what you want?" Gabrielle's voice was a growl, almost unrecognizable. "To be taken? Violated by some warlord you don't even know?"

To be honest, Xena wasn't at all sure what it was she wanted. On the matter of who, however, she was mortally certain. Gabrielle's right hand was still delving between her legs, teasing and massaging around the edges, pulling open her flesh in ways that made her thighs spread wide, her hips thrust upward in search of satisfaction as her breath came in embarrassing short little pants.

"I know you," she managed. And it was true, though she couldn't bring to mind a single clear memory. More than any other soul, this was the person she trusted with her own.

"You know _nothing_ , little girl." The bitter pronouncement sounded less in anger than on the verge of tears. Gabrielle was likewise trembling as she continued her ungentle exploration, holding Xena pinned with one hand between her legs, one at the nape of her neck.

"I know you." But her insistence did no good. Gabrielle leaned down, lips not quite touching her ear.

"Do you remember whipping me?"

"What?" Xena froze, her jumbled thoughts likewise coming to a halt.

"Oh, I won't exaggerate." Gabrielle's voice was as serious as the grave. "It was only the one time. We hadn't been together very long, and you were just playing around. Mostly." Her tone became flat and cold. "But it still hurt."

"I --" Some vestige of rationality makes a desperate, final attempt as Xena finds the proper word. "Why?"

"I ruined your best cooking pan. Well -- your only cooking pan." Gabrielle almost sounds amazed at her own stupidity. "Didn't grease it up before I packed it away."

"I would never --" But Xena falls silent.

"I said I was sorry," Gabrielle continues. "You said it cost twenty-five dinari. I said I didn't have any money. You asked what my father would do. And I said, probably whip me."

Xena swallowed, eyes wide as they stared at the ceiling overhead.

"See -- I was kidding." Gabrielle's voice was a hypnotic murmur. "My father never laid a hand on me, or Lilla. But I still didn't know you very well." A quiet chuckle. "Until I found out you weren't kidding."

"I --" Xena struggled to form a coherent thought. "I don't believe you."

"Which part?" And Gabrielle laughed again, the sound sending a shiver down her spine.

Abruptly the bard sat up, then stood, towering over Xena who stared up at her face, eyes briefly drawn under her red leather skirt.

"No, Xena." Gabrielle smiled and waved one finger, as if scolding a child, before kneeling down and rolling Xena over on her stomach. Before could so much as blink, the whip from her friend's belt was being used to secure both hands behind her back.

"Hey!" Xena felt doubly foolish now, involuntary though her utterance might have been. She strained against her bonds, feeling only a slight give.

"Because I've picked up more than a few of your many skills." With a flourish, Gabrielle grabbed the nearby belt from Xena's bathing robe, encircling her at the ankles, immobilizing her legs with a quick double twist.

"What --" Xena didn't know if she was starting to panic. It sounded like it. "What are you doing?"

"I told you," Gabrielle growled. Her hand cupped Xena's flank in a sensual massage that became a hard, cruel grip. "I'm bringing you to your senses."

"Ha!" Xena couldn't help a startled yell as Gabrielle's open hand came down on her arse. She tried to squirm away, defiant. "That didn't --"

A shriek of genuine pain erupted along with the sound of Gabrielle's blow as it echoed off the tiles, filling the bath chamber with a resounding series of its fellows.

"Amarice!" Xena howled. "Somebody save me! Gabrielle's gone crazy --"

"Shut up!" Gabrielle's hiss was accompanied by a particularly vicious strike. Dimly, Xena could hear something rattling as muffled voices were followed by a thud, and a rush of cool air.

"What's going on -- _oh_."

Xena could picture it all too easily: Amarice, stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes as big as Roman shields; Gabrielle looking up from the floor with a glare, one hand holding Xena by the scruff of her neck, the other raised overhead. 

"This is how we do things in my tribe." Gabrielle's voice drops once more to a growl. "You got a problem with that?"

"Nomyqueen--" The faint sound of footsteps backing away was followed by the door swinging to, the latch falling with an ominous clack. From outside, Xena could hear the Amazon imparting warnings most dire to anyone who dared intrude.

"And she can tell _Joxer_ \--" Gabrielle punctuated this with another stinging smack. "To keep his _bloody_ \-- _nose_ \-- _silent_ \-- about _you_ \--"

 _Gods,_ Xena thought, or cried out. The fire in her loins was quickly being outpaced by the burning sensation in her hindquarters, her struggles only serving to increase the area being covered. Neither did Gabrielle's enthusiasm appear to be outlasting her stamina; whatever else might be unclear in her memories, the powerful woman now holding Xena down was a far cry from her tenderfoot beginnings.

"And _this_ \-- is for every time you were _late_ \-- because you were too busy _flirting_ \--"

Xena's hips pressed against the floor as she continued to struggle, feeling the belt around her ankles begin to loosen. Before she could take advantage to make her escape, Gabrielle was straddling her legs, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her up on her knees.

"No." The bard's voice was hoarse with exertion, and more. "I was wrong."

Xena shut her eyes as tight as she could. It didn't do a thing to block out the sounds of a tongue; of spit being messily applied, all while her womanhood lay exposed, gaping and unfilled. Gabrielle's left hand still held her by the hips, and so --

" _This_ is what you want."

Xena nearly screamed aloud as Gabrielle's fingers -- three? No, four -- plunged inside her in one swift thrust. Her outburst caught halfway in her throat as the bard paused, finding a fresh angle of attack before pressing on. Her eyes were open once more but she saw nothing, blinded by passion. At least she was pretty sure it was passion. It wasn't likely to be anything else.

"See?" Gabrielle gently crooned as she came to rest, fingers embedded in Xena near to the hilt. She dug in and bore down on Xena's left cheek with her thumb, her entire hand squeezing in a possessive gesture that made obscene squelching sounds, spreading her friend further open still. "Who needs that big dumb old Ares, huh?"

"Guh --" Xena's eyes were crossing and seeing double at the same time. Her cheek pressed flat against the floor, a string of saliva smearing as it continued to drool from her slack and open mouth. Her body trembled and shook, Gabrielle's fingers shoving deeper with each slight push of her hips.

"Say it with me," Gabrielle commanded, leaning into her next push. Her own hips shoved into Xena's arse, pinning her impaling hand between them. "Ares...doesn't own me."

"Ares..." Xena groaned, long and loud, as Gabrielle thrust into her again. "Doesn't...own me."

"That's right." Gabrielle reached over, grabbing something from beside the tub.

A faint pop reached Xena's ears, the sound of a stopper coming free. She was on the verge of protest when a thin stream of liquid hit her right between her upthrust cheeks, running over her suddenly spasming rear entrance to further lubricate the fingers already inside her.

"But if anyone owns you?" Gabrielle's hand rotated gently back and forth, drawing little whimpers from Xena as she coated her own thumb in the excess puddles of oil. It pushed and prodded at the traitorous ring of muscle which was now desperately pushing back, seemingly eager for its own penetration. "You know who it is."

Xena shoved back, wild in her hunger. Gabrielle's thumb continued to tease and retreat, taunting her with each and every attempt.

"Who is it?" Gabrielle demanded. The tip of her thumb danced across its shivering target, poking delicately within.

"You," Xena panted. Her hips bore down, a strident edge of need entering her voice. "You, only you --"

"Say my name."

"Gabrielle --" Xena felt herself open in full. Open, and full.

She managed two more repetitions before her stutters became screams.

  


* * *

  


The sound of a crackling fire greeted Gabrielle as she returned to the now-darkened clearing. Whatever they might have been expecting from Xena upon being restored to her old self had gone unremarked in the heat of battle, and after. Now the warrior sat by the flames, lost in thought as she gazed at her new chakram.

"Dinar for your thoughts." Gabrielle knelt beside her friend, nodding at her weapon. "For what it's worth -- I like the new look."

"Me too." Xena raised her head, her eyes filled with love and concern. "If something ever happens --"

Gabrielle reached out, hesitating before placing a hand on Xena's knee. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Xena held her gaze. "If something happens, and you're still here -- I want you to have this."

"Wow." Gabrielle reflected a moment. "That's still kind of morbid. But...I guess I'm more moved, overall."

"Well, good." Something twinkled in Xena's eyes. 

"No, seriously." Gabrielle did her best to sound sincere. Which should be easy, when you were really actually being sincere. "That means a lot to me. Because...I know how much it means to you."

And the faint smile that graced the warrior's lips was almost a smirk.

"It couldn't be in better hands."

**Author's Note:**

> Past tense is mostly no longer my thing, but once in a while, it happens. In this case it was easier to stick with the original, and believe you me it was harder to stick with than anticipated.
> 
> Originally intended as heavier angst. I'd gotten up to the sex and was weighing my options when just the right edge of comedy reared its head. From that moment on, everything was easier.


End file.
